The Senate voted 42 to 8 to pass a bill sponsored by Sen. Roy McDonald that would provide approximately $80,000 per year to municipalities surrounding the Dewey-Loeffel landfill in southern Rensselaer County to make up for lost tax revenue. The site, outside the town of Nassau, includes the former location of a chemical plant that was closed by court order in 1970.

Last month, TU reporter Brian Nearing reported on the $10 million settlement between the EPA and two responsible parties, GE and the chemical company SI Group.

As Nearing described it, the 16-acre unlined dump contains about 46,000 pounds of PCBs, solvents and other toxic chemicals that were illegally dumped from GE, the former Schenectady International and Bendix from 1952 to 1970.

Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, quizzed McDonald on why Dewey-Loeffel should be singled out for special treatment out of the 1,276 SuperFund sites around the state. Krueger noted that the bill calls for the local financial officer to determine the amount it’s owed.

“I want to help this town; I don’t think this bill is the right way to get from point A to point B,” Krueger said.

McDonald said that communities around the site had suffered from decades of inaction — by the polluters and later by foot-dragging environmental enforcement that took too long to reach a resolution on the landfill.

The bill’s fate in the Assembly, where Republican Steve McLaughlin has sponsored it, remains uncertain. It was referred to the Ways & Means Committee just after session started in January.

Update: Here’s the thanks-Roy statement from Nassau Town Supervisor David Fleming:

Nassau Town Supervisor David Fleming was at the State Capitol when legislation sponsored by Senator Roy McDonald addressing contamination at the infamous Dewey Loeffel Toxic Waste Site in the Town of Nassau passed by an unofficial vote of 42-8.

The bill, S.2502, was drafted after numerous meetings with local residents and elected officials regarding contamination at the site.

Under this legislation, the State would provide property tax reimbursement to municipalities who have lost tax revenue due to court ordered and marketplace impacts of contamination from the state hazardous waste site known as the Dewey Loeffel Toxic Landfill. The costs associated with those reimbursements would be passed on to the polluters and responsible parties under existing settlement agreements and New York precedent whereby polluters would pay for the impacts of contamination.

The passage of this legislation follows news of the USEPA takeover of the site as a Superfund site and the announcement three weeks ago of the impending construction of a new water treatment facility at the site of the toxic landfill.

“The passage of this legislation is a critical step in healing the wounds of generations of negative impacts from this toxic waste site,” stated Supervisor Fleming. “We are thankful for the efforts of Senator Roy McDonald who has stood with us to fight years of environmental injustice. Nassau is committed to addressing every aspect of this toxic waste site and ensuring it is completely and effectively remediated,” continued Fleming.

“I applaud the efforts of the residents and officials of southern Rensselaer County that have been leading this fight for years. I’m pleased to be a part of focusing attention and state action on this contamination and working to remove these toxins from our communities,” said State Senator Roy McDonald.

The Loeffel site is located in southern Rensselaer County and contains more than twice the contamination of the infamous Love Canal waste site. It is estimated that more than 46,000 tons of toxic waste are buried in a failed capped landfill. Remediation activities and further studies are currently being conducted by the USEPA and the NYS DEC.

Remediation of this site has been ongoing for decades with little progress having been made in preventing the contamination from seeping from the site and contaminating additional properties. This contamination has also impacted the Valatie Kill Creek as well as Nassau Lake.

“As supervisor, I have made action on addressing this contamination a priority. I am grateful to Senator McDonald for his continued support of working with us to heal this massive environmental wound that impacts the entire Capital Region,” said Fleming.

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